August lunch notes (all wines tasted blind):
2000 Ch. de Valcombe Costieres de Nimes Cuvee Prestige - medium colour, some nice primary fruit aromas, purple colour, tasty wine that drinks very nicely now, but I doubt it will improve much (tasted while waiting for the tardy members to show).1995 Hyatt Merlot (Yakima) - past it's prime drinking time, with a nose we though at first could be slightly corky, but it cleared up. Fairly sweet entry, pleasant but ageing wine.
1999 Quinta do Crasto Riserva - the dry wine, not the Port. Fairly dark, leathery fruit nose, well integrated tannin, medium length.1998 Quinta do Crasto Riserva - brighter, with better fruit, sweet in mouth and more French in profile, but shorter finish and inferior to the 98 (which in turn is not as good as the 97).
1998 La Chapelle de Bages - this is 'Lunch Bags' second wine - something that many of us were unaware of being made. Hadn't seen it in this market before - this bottle was picked up in Eastern Canada. Dark and fairly full with some nice cedar in the nose, but quite soft in the mouth, and ready to drink now. The price is modest and it would make a nice every day tipple.1994 Leoville Las Cases - None of us have been dipping into the few 93 Bordeaux we have, much (I exclusively right bank in this vintage - you had to be selective to make it worth while). Fairly dark colour, with a pronounced cocoa nose, very nice smooth mouth feel, drinking very well now, and probably won't get any better. My experience with left bank 93s is limited (I opted out after tasting a few), but this has to be one of the better wines made in that area in this difficult vintage.
1994 Ridge Geyserville - rather suitable, I thought, as several of the group were retired geezers....These buggers took advantage of me having to go feed the parking meter, and put in another wine, a local cheap blend used for cooking in the restaurant, and made me think it was my wine. I was trying to like it, but the foxy nasty nose was bad enough, and the simple fruit that got raisiny at the end made me condemn what I thought was my wine, scratching my head an wondering what the heck had happened to it (like it fell into bad company and consorted with Labrusca?). Anuway - the REAL notes - A very sweet fruity, and slightly hot (14.3%) nose that abated a bit with time in the glass, sweet and long in the mouth, quite smooth with good length. 68% zin, 20% carignane (who else but Draper could get away with this in a premium wine?), 8% petite sirah, 4% mataro/mourvedre.1987 Girard Napa Cabernet - I don't know what happened with this usually very decent winery this vintage, but the wine was quite decent in the nose, but on the lean side, with still fairly hard tannins that no doubt made it seem even leaner. Will it ever come around? I have my doubts, as the fruit seems a bit low and the tannins a bit high. A California version of many 1975 Bordeaux?
1998 Edwards & Chaffey Section 353 Shiraz McLaren Vale - hot jammy nose (I bet it is even more than the 14.8% admitted to), but quite smooth and a medium body with good length - perfect cheese wine.My favourites? The Las Cases, as they are such a consistent class act, and the Ridge as it was so prefectly ready now.